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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: calf · cold · court · hand · snap · field · swing · present

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. swing — to play on
  4. present — there
  5. court — of law
  6. hand — in cards
  7. present — the time now
  8. snap — to click
  9. hand — help
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — for sport
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — farmland
  18. present — a gift
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. court — for sport
  24. calf — a young animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com